1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to dress shirts and, more particularly, to adjustable neck and cuff closures for men's dress shirts.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional man's dress shirt has a buttonhole formed in one end region of a neck band, and a neck closure button sewn on an outer surface of an opposite end region of the neck band. The neck closure button is passed through the neck buttonhole to fasten overlapping end regions of the neck band to each other.
Analogously, in a long-sleeved shirt, a buttonhole is formed in one end region of a cuff, and a cuff closure button is sewn on an outer surface of an opposite end region of the cuff. The cuff closure button is passed through the cuff buttonhole to fasten overlapping end regions of the cuff to each other. After fastening, the neck and cuff closure buttons face outwardly away from the wearer of the shirt to present a neat attractive appearance to others.
It is often desirable to adjust the amount of overlap of the neck band and each cuff to accommodate differently sized necks and wrists of different wearers, or to accommodate a wearer experiencing a change in size. For the neck closure, it has been proposed to attach to the shirt a loop accessory for engaging the neck button. The loop accessory serves as a substitute for the neck buttonhole and allows the neck closure button to be fastened at a further distance from the neck buttonhole. The loop accessory detracts from one's appearance, so much so that it is often only used in conjunction with a tie whose knot conceals the loop accessory. Nevertheless, if the tie knot is small in size or if the tie knot shifts, the loop accessory will come into view, thereby detracting from the wearer's appearance.
As for providing adjustability for the cuff closure, some manufacturers have resorted to providing two cuff buttons spaced apart in a circumferential direction about the cuff. The wearer can select which button to pass through the cuff buttonhole, thereby achieving a limited measure of adjustability. Should the wearer select the first button to fasten the cuff, then the second button will remain exposed, thereby again detracting from the wearer's appearance.